Swamp Fever - 1/4: Plank Country
Plank Country is the first chapter of the campaign Swamp Fever in Left 4 Dead 2. The map begins with the Survivors leaving a crashed helicopter that fell in front of a gas station near a small town, which they had been using as a temporary safe room. The townspeople, who had been resisting both help and refugees, believed that they could barricade themselves in, seeing as it bordered a swamp. Unfortunately, judging by the lack of other Survivors, the plan failed, and everyone has either been killed, infected, or simply left. Strategy Campaign The boxcar has basic starting supplies; four first-aid kits and tier 1 weapons. The only way to go is through the abandoned town. The road the Survivors travel down winds its way past several shacks. It is wise to check these for supplies as the director often shows its rarely seen benevolent side. In fact, it is common to reach the cable-ferry Crescendo Event with all four Survivors brimming with Pills and Pipe bombs. Watch it! the gator village is one more likely places for a witch to spawn, so stay alert. Once the Survivors reach the old cable-ferry, they should prepare to fend off the Infected once the Crescendo Event is triggered. A common place to defend is the second floor of the nearby general store, as there are often molotovs, incendiary/explosive ammo, and pills/adrenaline. Defending next to the river is suicide as Survivors are easily knocked into the river by all manner of Special Infected. Not only are the Infected attracted to the sound as it moves toward the Survivors, but they keep coming while the ferry goes back. In addition the Survivors can fall into the river to their deaths. *'' This is one of the few most likely times for a Tank appear. If you hear either before this, get ready as you will, and try to spare a Molotov or a Bile Bomb for the Tank.'' The other side of the river provides no safety. As noted, Tanks often spawn here, so Survivors are well-advised to heal during the ferry ride across. After following a wooden walkway for a short while, a cabin appears on the left. It often holds valuable supplies, from rare weapons like the chainsaw and grenade launcher and the laser sight, to common accessories like pills/adrenaline and ammo. The Survivors are presented with a choice, to either go left or right. Both paths often hold tier 1 weapons like the SMG and pump shotgun, as well as other goodies. If you hear a Witch, don't worry about which path you choose, the director has likely spawned her directly where the two paths meet. Shortly after the walkways meet, they descend into a swamp and end. However, a much humbler path of wooden planks lies to the right, and is much faster the charging directly forward into the swamp. Soon the Survivors will see a light on in the distance. It is the entrance to a sewer pipe, and as good a safe room as any. ''Notes * Do not try to jump to the raft, especially if it is close, you will either fall in the water, or be hanging from the edge, and be crushed to death by the float as it arrives. Versus The Survivors Now that humans are controlling the Special Infected, things can only get worse. However, they can't spawn until you leave the campsite area. That doesn't mean that you should let them have a good chance to find just the right spot, though! Hurry up and get your supplies, and get ''moving! This level can be very tricky for the human controlled Survivors, since the Infected are not bots any more. There are some "instant kill" spots in the Crescendo Event area. Also, Tanks may spawn after leaving the ferry. Whilst most of the level through the Shanty town is relatively easy due to its wide main street which easy fire ways into most buildings things can become incredibly hard once the winch for the barge is activated. Not only will tons of Common Infected swarm on you, even if you camp in the building, but you will become easy prey for Special Infected like the Smoker, the Jockey and the Charger who are all capable of dislodging you from your camping spot and getting instant kills by throwing you into the river. The best strategy then is to stick together and watch all directions, using a Bile bomb or a Pipe bomb to siphon off the majority of the Horde and leaving you free to spot any of the Special Infected unencumbered. The Infected Chargers: *You can make instant kills here. For you to finish off unlucky Survivors, you must charge them into the water, making them fall to their death. This applies on both sides of the water. *Charging Survivors off the walkway is a good strategy. *Try to hit the Survivors on the docks and don't let them see you. Smokers: * Since there are many houses in the plank country, you can try ensnaring them from the rooftops. Be sure to not be at the highest spot as the Survivors may spot you easily and kill you. *If a Witch spawns in the village try to drag Survivors to her, they will all be equipped with tier 1 weapons so they will have troubles killing her fast. If the Survivor is not dead but incapacitated you comrades can take their chances to finish them off. *Pulling players off of the walkways and into the water can slow them down and separate them from the pack, forcing them to take precious time to backtrack and regroup. *Dragging Survivors while hidden among the bushes will often result in their rescuers having difficulty hitting you, as you will be concealed. Hunters: *The swamp has many hiding spots, use them to your advantage to pounce unsuspecting players! *Practice your damage pounces from the rooftops. *If one player goes off on their lonesome in the houses to search for supplies, let this be their downfall. *If the Survivors are bunched up next to the river, and you pounce one, the knock back effect just might push one or more of their teammates over the edge. Spitters *Spitting on the boat while the Survivors are in it will cause them to take a vicious amount of damage, because there is no escape from the ferry. *Likewise, spitting on the boat just as it arrives will force them to make a decision between spit damage, or the horde of Infected charging at them. *If the Survivors are camping in one spot at the Crescendo Event, feel more than free to spit on them and disrupt their formation. *As always, spitting on incapacitated Survivors as their rescuer arrives is a great strategy. Jockey: *If you're riding a Survivor and he's not resisting, you can send him/her into the water for an instant kill. *In the village itself, riding Survivors into and out of houses can buy you a few extra seconds to do damage. Boomers: *Wait for the Survivors in the houses, then ambush them. *During the Crescendo Event, it can be crucial to vomit on the Survivors. Obviously yes, but when vomited on, players (especially inexperienced ones) can tend to move around to try and get away from the horde. If they make this mistake when their back is to the river, things could turn ugly for them fast. *As a Boomer,try to explode near them all of the survivors some unlucky ones will fall into the water.and the rest will still have vomit on them.Try to do this before the ferry comes. Tank: *If you spawn as a Tank in the village you can try tossing some of the cars at the Survivors to instantly incapacitate them. *The swamp is full of trees, so your rock throws will fail most of the times. Try to punch the Survivor near the water to instantly kill them. Scavenge During scavenge, grab several gas cans, and drop them under the water to make sure the Spitters cannot destroy them. This also prevents you from having to run farther away to grab them. This is probably the best strategy for Plank Country. Another strategy is to have two actually in the swamp water, two on the platforms with snipers. These two will cover the ones in the swamp using their scopes, while the others have rifles or shotguns, grabbing gas cans. You can also have two people grab adrenaline shots, and inject them when they get to the swamp water, causing them to run faster then normal speed in it, grab the gas cans, and toss them over. Another way is to run in a sort of line leading to the tanker, one grabs the gas, throws it back, the next person throws it back, repeat, then the last one puts it in. So, the 4 strategies are: *Grab several gas cans, put them in the water close to the tanker, then repeat. *Two snipers on platforms, providing covering fire for two grabbing gas cans in swamp. *Two people with adrenaline shots tossing cans over to two Survivors at tanker. *Line up to tanker, tossing the gas tank backwards. Notes * Do not jump in the water. Whether you are a Survivor, an Infected, or an Infected still in ghost mode, the water will kill you. *At the beginning of the level, Ellis complains to Nick about why he shot the helicopter pilot. Then they argue that the pilot was a zombie and that "he wouldn't help us very much" during that time. This seems to be a running joke with the Survivors. **Ellis apparently thinks that the Infected pilot could still have flown the helicopter judging from what he says during the argument. **Occasionally Ellis will compliment Nick's quick reaction when shooting the zombie pilot. *The crashed Helicopter is the crashed News Chopper 5 model that was used in Crash Course, just reskinned to match it's appearance in Dark Carnival. *One of the jukebox Easter-eggs is found in this level. * Near the ferry Crescendo event, there is a Charger strung up by all limbs in the shape of a Lambda, the logo of Valve's Half-Life series . *A glitch can occasionally happen near the ferry Crescendo event where all the Survivors are impervious to attacks from Common and Special Infected alike (The Infected Team are not granted the Glitch effects, however). When this is in effect, Survivors can be attacked by Infected, but not take Damage. For instance, it is possible for a Survivor to be choked out by a Smoker for several minutes without taking damage. Survivors can even jump in the river without dying, though this is not recommended as it means your team-mates cannot continue, there is no way back up, and the glitch effect eventually ends, making you vulnerable and so are instantly killed. As stated, the glitch's effects often end once the ferry arrives, but it has been known to last the rest of the level on a rare occasion. *The PC version of Plank Country has a glitch in Versus mode that gives the Survivors 500 points upon activation of the crank that calls over the river boat. The glitch also temporarily prevents the infected players from spawning. *The button inside the river boat is rendered from one of Valve's popular games, Half-Life 2. *In the Swamp Fever Beta, the wooden walkways would sometimes collapse when walked on, forcing the Survivors to trudge through the muck and take the other path. Valve removed this because play testers found this extremely tedious. *If a player Noclips out of the boxcar, and looks behind them, they will see the News Chopper 5 Helicopter, As stated above, used in Crash Course. This is an interesting thing to note, as the Helicopter that rescues the Survivors in Dark Carnival is yellow. *Coach will occasionally say "Get your ass in the elevator" when the ferry arrives. *Ellis' color commentary about "Blood Farmers" is a reference to the 1972 Grindhouse film, Invasion of the Blood Farmers. In it, maniac farmer-druids in a remote shanty town drain the blood from unsuspecting innocents to resurrect their queen. Ellis basically discusses the plot of the movie as if it were real. *Coach, on the ferry, may mention a movie where an alligator ate a guy's hand, a nod to the movie Happy Gilmore. Out Of Plank Country Glitch Right at the start of Plank Country there's a nice out of map that allows you to see the crashed helicopter as Survivors and explore a little. You must go forward until you get to the small village area. There is a fence at the side of the first building on the right. You jump on the fence, then onto the large bush. When you get on the bush you must run and jump over to the right on the bush then simply follow the bush's path until you fall off and into the out of map. thumb|left|300px|The plank country, out of map glitch Category:Left 4 Dead 2 Category:Swamp Fever Category:Chapters